The 
60-member Green Inclusive and Climate Smart Finance Action Group, one of the European Microfinance Platform’s (e-MFP’s) five Action Groups, met today to drive forward agenda items such as the increased adoption of the Green Index. The Green Index is a tool for assessing the performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in four areas: policy and strategy; internal risk; external risk; and green loan products offered. Green loans can fund a range of purchases, from solar panels to waste management systems.
The coordinators of the Action Group also solicited ideas on new projects to take on during the next two years. Andre Harriman, CEO of the Zimbabwean arm of the UK-based Microloan Foundation, said that the rural women his institution serves are very interested in solar and other green products. However, he is wary of “people trying to get rich from the rural poor in Africa,” so he is hoping to find more “socially focussed products.”
Based on an idea from last year’s meeting at European Microfinance Week, the group is organizing a Green Inclusive Finance Study Tour to take place in 2019. While the location has not been finalized as of this writing, you may request updates from Giulia Corso of Germany-based MicroEnergy International via giulia.corso[at]microenergy-international.com or +49 (30) 346 46 12 0.
The Action Group is also working to increase usage of the Green Index by conducting a series of workshops to train people to use it. The second of four such workshops will occur here at European Microfinance Week. The group is using the workshops to test materials that can enable others to replicate the workshop to reach more people. It is also testing an app it has developed to allow people to use the Green Index via smartphone. Although it can be used as a standalone tool, the Green Index is also a dimension of SPI4, the fourth iteration of a set of social performance indicators (SPIs) intended to simplify reporting and provide a common language for social performance management. Those who have examples of green product usage that may be suitable for case studies are encouraged to contact Gabriela Erice at gerice[at]e-mfp.eu or +352 26 27 13 82.
Speaking on behalf of NpM Platform for Inclusive Finance, a 13-member group formerly known as the Netherlands Platform for Microfinance, Andres Van Der Linden discussed a proposal he developed to harmonize the definition, approach and metrics used to address green inclusive finance. The proposal divides the approach into environmental performance management (EPM) and environmental impact measurement (EIM). While the Green Index closely parallels EPM, as Mr Van Der Linden outlines it, EIM focuses more on “what’s material to the end-user,” such as whether her goal is saving money, having cleaner air in her house, etc. Some of these metrics are borrowed from the work of the Netherlands-based Global Off-Grid Lighting Association.
To learn more about the Green Inclusive and Climate Smart Finance Action Group – or to join – you may contact Gabriela Erice at gerice[at]e-mfp.eu or +352 26 27 13 82.
This sponsored feature is part of a series on European Microfinance Week, which is being held from November 14 through 16 in Luxembourg by the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP), a network of over 130 financial-inclusion stakeholders. MicroCapital has been engaged to promote and document the event.
Sources and Additional Resources
European Microfinance Week 2018
http://www.e-mfp.eu/european-microfinance-week-2018/information
MicroCapital Coverage of European Microfinance Week 2012-2018
https://www.microcapital.org/category/european-microfinance-week/
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